In The Pacific, Where they never really ran into Cap much, The Hand made it's first formal appearance in WWII. However, they were put to pains by a strange soldier who fought like a beast and a burning man (Details are unclear at this time. There were rumors through out the pacific theater of a "human torch" assisting the allied forces. The soldier who fought like a beast was sometimes identified as a canadian special forces operative, name withheld). The SSR branch in this theatre put together an extensive file on the Hand.

Founded in 1588, the were originally nothing more than any school of a style of ninjitsu,farmers and peasants learning to fight in secret to defend themselves from corrupt warlords. However, during the Meji Revolution, in 1887, the Hand underwent their first major schism. There is still a group that trains in the hills purely for the physical and spiritual enlgihtenment, but there is also the sect of the Hand lead by a family who's surname translates to "Snakeroot". This branch began to manipulate the larger businesses such as weapons manufacturing, and the growing criminal element. Then there is the sect known as the Underhand. Little is known about this group of ninja, except that even other Hand Ninja fear them. They are said to be undead, but this has yet to be conclusively proven.

as the years rolled on the Hand has continued to have heavy influence in Japan, and as the country modernized and expanded its' interests, it is possible, if not probable, that the Hand has begun to operate overseas. However, due to their very signature being not only stealthy but undetectable assassination, they are hard to define as certainly in the country. SHIELD Agents Wing and Ayala have been investigating the situation extensively, working closely with an MI13 agent wishing to be identified only by her codename "Psylocke"